cooltoolsforschools - home Ending the 'tyranny of the lecture' Harvard professor Eric Mazur reveals how he uses peer instruction to make learning more dynamic—and how new software can facilitate this process By Dennis Pierce, Editor Read more by Dennis Pierce July 27th, 2011 Students need to assimilate information before they can apply it to a different context, Mazur said. At an educational technology conference in Boston July 27, Harvard University physics professor Eric Mazur explained how he uses “peer instruction” to help his students engage in deeper learning than traditional lectures can provide—and he unveiled a brand-new ed-tech service that can help educators take this concept to a whole new level. Mazur used a simple experiment to drive home his point that lecturing is an outdated—and largely ineffective—strategy for imparting knowledge. While the responses from the crowd varied—some cited practice or experience, while others said trial and error—no one answered “lecture,” Mazur noted wryly.
What Is Geodesign–and Can It Protect Us from Natural Disasters? Esri created this fictional rendering of urban redevelopment in Philadelphia using GIS data and 3-D modeling. As New York, New Jersey and other states hit hard during Superstorm Sandy last fall begin their long road to recovery, the decisions they make on how to rebuild are crucial to determining how well they’re weather than next big storm. The choices range from installing large storm-surge sea barriers near Staten Island and at the mouth of New York Harbor to keep rising waters at bay, to cultivating wetlands around the southern tip of Manhattan that can provide a natural buffer. Both concepts are on the drawing boards and are being fiercely debated on their merits. Geodesign arose thanks largely to the availability of geographic information system (GIS) data. “With GIS, we have the tools to understand our landscape and [the] impact of our design decisions,” says Tom Fisher, dean of the University of Minnesota’s College of Design. Geodesign is not entirely new, of course.
Flipped learning: A response to five common criticisms One of the reasons this debate exists is because there is no true definition of what “flipped learning” is. Over the past few years, the Flipped Learning method has created quite a stir. Some argue that this teaching method will completely transform education, while others say it is simply an opportunity for boring lectures to be viewed in new locations. While the debate goes on, the concept of Flipped Learning is not entirely new. Dr. It’s our opinion that one of the reasons this debate exists is because there is no true definition of what Flipped Learning is. Dr.
What Is Consciousness? Go to the Video! Ned Block explains consciousness. Various scholars have tried to explain consciousness in long articles and books, but one neuroscience pioneer has just released an unusual video blog to get the point across. In the sharply filmed and edited production, Joseph LeDoux, a renowned expert on the emotional brain at New York University, interrogates his NYU colleague Ned Block on the nature of consciousness. Block is a professor of philosophy, psychology and neural science and is considered a leading thinker on the subject. LeDoux intends to produce a series of these video blogs to explore other intriguing aspects of the mind and brain, and he is giving Scientific American the chance to post them first on our Web site. The Mind Body Problem: An interview with Ned Block from Imaginal Disc on Vimeo. The video is not a quick hit, like most on the Net these days. Nonetheless, if you want to zip to some highlights, the following struck me: 1:20 The mind-body problem. “Wittgenstein and Qualia.”
Move Over Harvard And MIT, Stanford Has The Real “Revolution In Education” Lectures are often the least educational aspect of college; I know, I’ve taught college seniors and witnessed how little students learn during their four years in higher education. So, while it’s noble that MIT and Harvard are opening their otherwise exclusive lecture content to the public with EdX, hanging a webcam inside of a classroom is a not a “revolution in education”. A revolution in education would be replacing lectures with the Khan Academy and dedicating class time to hands-on learning, which is exactly what Stanford’s medical school proposed last week. Stanford realizes that great education comes from being surrounded by inspiring peers, being coached by world-class thinkers, and spending time solving actual problems. So, last week, two Stanford professors made a courageous proposal to ditch lectures in the medical school. Skeptical readers may argue that Khan Academy can’t compete with lectures from the world’s great thinkers. [Image via the University of Waterloo.]
dialectical model of human nature Ultimately, there are two factors that determine human nature; the Regulation of Biology and the Manipulation of Culture. Both biology and culture are comprised of distinct and variable factors with observable and foreseeable effects on human behavior; which is, in the end, derived from synthetic action of the brain. The dominant model of human nature, found primarily in contemporary economics, conceptualizes human behavior as rational and utility maximizing. Unfortunately, this model overlooks some of our most powerful and uniquely human traits. Specifically, it ignores the influence of affect on cognition and behavior. The notion that emotional states can significantly affect rational thought is far from old, but the explicit incorporation of emotionality into models of human nature has just begun to take empirical interest. Just like any other animal on this planet, human beings are biological organisms.
With A New Educational Platform, TED Gives Teachers The Keys To A Flipped Classroom You may know TED, not as the guy from marketing, but as the nonprofit organization devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading” — or as the set of global conferences, Talks, and videos that touch on the many heady, relevant issues surrounding Technology, Entertainment, and Design. As an increasingly powerful medium through which the world’s experts share their hard-won knowledge, TED is also an educator. In March, the organization launched the first phase of its “TED-Ed” initiative, in practice a series of a dozen short animated YouTube videos “created for high school students and lifelong learners,” in the big picture an invitation to teachers to collaborate with TED to create more effective video lessons that can be used in classrooms. Tonight, TED is announcing the second phase of its education initiative — a website that lives on TED.com, which is designed to enable teachers to create unique lesson plans around its video content.
Networks in Physics *The embed functionality can only be used for non commercial purposes. In order to maintain its sustainability, all mass use of content by commercial or not for profit companies must be done in agreement with figshare. Description Number of papers containing the word "network" in the title appearing per year in the electronic pre-print archive (arXiv.org), Physics section. Comments (0) Published on 29 Jan 2013 - 18:06 (GMT) Filesize is 20.98 KB License (what's this?) Cite "Filename" Place your mouse over the citation text to select it Embed "Networks in Physics" Show filename on top Place your mouse over the embed code to select and copy it